About this Site

Emilie Davis was an African-American woman living in Philadelphia during the U.S. Civil War. This website is a transcription of Emilie’s three pocket diaries for the years 1863, 1864, and 1865. In them, she recounts black Philadelphians’ celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation, nervous excitement during the battle of Gettysburg, and their collective mourning of President Lincoln. The diary allows readers to experience the war in real time, as events unfolded for Civil War Americans. Read More...

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August 26-28, 1863

Wednesday, August 26, 1863.

quite cool to day I have written three notes hom to day one to Nell Liz and EJ quite lovly out here Ephraim cam here this morning and stay a very long time i was almost

Thursday 27

chilled through standing out on the piazza i have bin busy all day mr harris is in town harriet Theodore and I went down to the Falls for ice cream but

Friday 28

We came back as we went ephraim gave us 50 ct to get some ice cream very busy all day i hardly had time to think of home the weather is

Annotation 1

This photograph shows the Reading Railroad Bridge near the Falls of the Schuylkill River as seen from the Laurel Hill Cemetery. www.librarycompany.org

The “falls” referenced here are the Falls of the Schuylkill River, near the Falls Bridge by the Laurel Hill Cemetery at 36th and Allegheny Streets in Philadelphia. Although, the dam at Fairmount, constructed in 1821, raised the water level enough to eliminate the falls, the name of the neighborhood remained the “Falls of the Schuylkill River.” Today, the area is known as East Falls. Jackson, Encyclopedia, 644-645. Philadelphia Barnes Map: Built portion of the City, R.L. Barnes 1859. http://www.philageohistory.org/rdic-images/view-image.cfm/HSF.D2D4

Annotation 2

Charlotte Forten was about Emilie’s age when she commmented on the sting of racism in Philadelphia when she could not get an ice cream with a friend.

Philadelphians of color did not generally take for grante2 such luxuries as going out with a friend for ice cream. In the summer of 1857, Charlotte Forten and a friend were refused service at three ice cream salons in a row before they gave up. Grimké, June 17-25, 1857, Journals, 22-23.

Annotation 3

Philadelphians of color did not generally take for granted such luxuries as going out with a friend for ice cream. This did not change after the Civil War. In the summer of 1866 a reporter for The Christian Recorder wrote about the discrimination he faced at a local Confectionary and Ice-Cream Saloon. He hoped that African Americans would stop supporting such businesses that did not treat them equally, and frequent black-owned businesses instead. “Ill-Treatment of Patrons, The Christian Recorder, June 30, 1866.